Complexity 複雑さ
by StrawberryXThief
Summary: Called upon a cursed state, Far too late to stop this fate, Twice a month shows what’s true, Love and warmth can break its cue, But never once a person must know, To get out of this cursed show, 'Cause should a person find out this... S/K
1. Prologue

**_This is a story I'm rewriting. Now that the year for Uni is almost over I find myself fixing lot of my stories.

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Complexity|| 複雑さ || Prologue

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_**

Kagome loved her friends. She really, _really_ did, but there are some instances in life where they push her beyond her limits, passed her cheerful demeanour into something _scarier _and _– _for lack of better word – pissed. She did a good impression of an animalistic growl (more Canine than anything) as she stared at her companion with an expression simultaneously angry and hurt.

She was human, unlike some of her other companions, and pretty average looking. But unlike any average human in modern day society, her life was a lot more chaotic and _unique._ For about two years now she had been hopping through time, collecting _shards_ of a jewel she hoped she could back to one piece, fighting demons, had her share of kidnappings, and in between all that she went to school whenever she could, although missing most of what could be a normal high school life. Although she lost that chance of a normal life once she had jumped the well at her home a second time, her connection to the past.

Her companion flinched slightly at her growl, the dog ears atop his head flattening against his skull, but stubbornly looked to the side and crossed his arms with a 'Keh!' refusing to acknowledge that she had gotten to him. Her other companions were keeping their distance from the argument that had escalated between the two of them, not sure whether or not they should intervene.

Kagome took a deep breath, trying to calm the mixed feelings of hurt and anger that stirred chaotically in her. "So that's what you think of me, Inuyasha," she said, her voice so low, but being a half demon he heard it as clearly as if she spoke to him normally. He also heard the pain and anguish in her voice. He fought hard not to flinch at the tone. "I'm nothing, but a shard detector to you?"

Inuyasha's ears twitched at the slight tremor in her voice, which he wouldn't have heard had he not been paying attention, but he refused to acknowledge it, because acknowledging it showed that, in fact, he cared. Acknowledging it would make him feel guiltier than he already was and acknowledging it showed he had a weakness when it came to her. "Feh! You knew that from the beginning, wench," he said rather harshly, refusing to look at her in the eyes because he knew that if he did his resolve would crumble. He always hid, hid his true feelings away from everyone he cared about. He wasn't willing to put himself in the same situation he had with Kikyou. It was just too painful. It didn't matter if time said it was approximately fifty years ago, it was still too recent for him. The scars would always be there.

"It was your duty from the start," he spat out, his demeanour not changing. He chanced a look at her face and had to forcefully stop himself from wincing at her look. "Don't think it was any more or any less, Kagome."

_Ouch._

She knew he was being on the defensive, always hiding what he truly felt, but still…

_Ouch._

Kagome flinched visibly at his words and her eyes turned glassy and her vision blurred, but she refused to let any tears fall. She would not cry in front of him. She just couldn't believe it. She knew he thought of her as a friend. After all, how could you stay with someone for two years and _not_ be their friend? He just refused to accept those feelings. After all they've been through, after all injuries and battles, he _still_ couldn't say it out loud.

Her lip wobbled as she tried so hard to regain her composure. She knew he could smell the unshed tears that blurred her vision, but she stubbornly still refused to let them fall, but it only took a little bit more time before her emotions got the better of her and her tears cascaded down her face leaving a glistening trail in their wake, glittering in the evening sun.

"Inuyasha, you idiot!" she yelled through her distress and did the thing she always did when Inuyasha upset her greatly, "Sit!"

He plunged to the ground and through the pain from the curse the beads around his neck gave him, he knew he deserved it. Always had, and that was something he wasn't going to deny, even though he wouldn't say it out loud. Even as the usual sting of curses and insults sprung from his mouth and even as she repeated the dreaded word, he knew he was an asshole and deserved the punishment he got from the curse around his neck.

In the background, her other companions looked at the half demon with something akin to disappointment as Kagome stormed off. The monk shook his head as his 'cursed' hand moved ever so slowly towards its target, the demon slayer looked at the direction Kagome had went in worry, the young fox demon shook his head and muttered 'idiot' under his breath and a small demon cat mewled and looked at the hanyou that called himself their leader disapprovingly.

A few seconds later a loud 'thud' was heard followed by a yell of 'Pervert' throughout the forest they settled in for the night.

* * *

Kagome hiccupped as she tried to calm her raging emotions that varied under 'pissed off', 'hurt' and 'anguish' while she sat by the river's edge. She should be used to it by now. It was useless to cry every time this happened and she knew that. The routine was always there. Fight demons, find the shard, argue and rage off in a storm of hurt and tears. But every time they fought it was like a new wound was being opened inside of her.

She tried, she really did. Was it really her fault that she had grown up in modern society without the need to train to fight off demons? It wasn't her fault that she was physically weak. She tried, practicing her miko powers, her aim with the bow, the bravery front she always put on while she was by his side fighting a demon ten times her size and fifteen times her strength…

But she knew that she was just making up excuses. If she really did try she would have given up school to train and gather some strength to fight off demons without needing Inuyasha's help all the time. School shouldn't really be an option anymore considering that she hardly ever went, but cling on it she did, her only semblance of a normal, modern teenage life that she had left. But she knew that her life stopped being normal the moment she jumped back into the well when she was fifteen.

She stared blankly into the stream; her tears had long dried out. A glinting of silver in the stream caught her eye and she blinked slowly as she stared at the opposite end of the torrent. She frowned, pausing in her thoughts as she slowly stood up and slowly walked across the stream using rocks, careful not to slip and fall. _Maybe its a fish_, she thought to herself as she walked carefully across the stream as small fish darted passed the rocks in the water.

Walking over to where she thought she saw the glint of silver she bent down and looked into the stream. She blinked as she saw a bracelet and reached into the water and picked it up. It was silver and very good quality considering it was the feudal era, and it looked fairly new as if someone just dropped it into the water recently. If you looked closely there was some kind of intricate design dancing across the small silver chain. She held it up, the sun making it shine a bit momentarily blinding her, hanging from the chains looked to be a rose made of ruby. In short, it was beautiful. Had she taken a closer look, she would have realised that it was also covered in a rather dark spell.

_Definitely not a fish..._ she though absently.

As she stared at it, she wondered briefly that if she had left their small, odd group, would Inuyasha come after her? She pierced her lips in a straight line as she brought her hand down. _Of course he would, after all, he needed his __**shard detector**__ to give him the full jewel to turn him into a fully fledged demon, _she had thought to herself rather bitterly. She sighed and placed the bracelet in her pocket as she sat down, looking at her reflection in the stream. She would look at the bracelet later, but for now she wanted to be left alone in her thoughts.

"Onee-san?" Kagome jumped slightly at a child's voice that sounded slightly cautious and looked towards the small girl she had seen more often than not accompanied by Sesshoumaru. With this little fact, she was slightly on guard.

"Yes?" Kagome replied to the little girl – and if she remembered right – was named Rin, her voice a bit rough from crying. She tried to put on her best smile, but failed miserably. She just wasn't in the mood. She felt miserable and wanted to strangle a certain half dog demon for making her feel this way.

Rin seemed to stand there as if pondering on what she was going to say next, her orange and white kimono a little dirty from, what Kagome assumed, was travel and playing around. She briefly wondered if she had any other clothing because she always saw the young girl in the same outfit.

"Is Onee-san okay?" she asked, "Rin heard crying noises before and found Onee-san a short while later."

Kagome blinked and wondered how long Rin (at least the name was confirmed) was standing there watching her before she decided to speak up. She smiled slightly touched at the little girl's concern even though they stood at opposite ends if she and her guardian fought each other. "I'm fine, young one," she answered, her depression slowly going away as she talked to the girl, "Was a little upset, but I'm fine now."

"Why was Onee-san upset?" Rin queried as she frowned a bit, "Did someone hurt you?"

Kagome bent down to the girl's level and ruffled her hair. "Just a small falling out with a friend. It happens sometimes, but it's all okay now."

"Rin." The cold voice froze Kagome in her place. She knew that voice anywhere and didn't dare look behind her in fear that if she dared turn around the owner of the cold voice would kill her where she was.

Rin's face, however, thought otherwise as she lit up brightly as she looked behind Kagome. "Sesshoumaru-sama!" she exclaimed, happily and Kagome watched the girl in wonder as she skipped brightly to her guardian. She briefly wondered how she could be so _happy_ with one ever so stoic.

Kagome stood slowly and turned around, instantly on guard in sight of an enemy. He was beautiful, so breathtakingly beautiful Kagome thought that it must be a sin for a male to look like that. His mere presence demanded respect and attention and you'd be damned if you didn't give it to him. He was perfect, yet deadly. "Sesshoumaru," she said, voice measured carefully to not show the fear she actually felt, although she knew it would be kind of pointless in doing that since he could probably smell her fear from a mile away.

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed at Kagome for her disrespect, but silently applauded her for not showing her fear, even though he could smell it. It wasn't only fear he could smell and see. She held determination and she was determined to fight if they were a need. If he were another weaker-level demon wouldn't have probably noticed her fear and probably back off with the look in her eyes, but unfortunately for her, he was one of the strongest out there. Personally, he had no qualms with the miko, but the fact that she was under his half brother's protection immediately put her in his bad books.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru stared each other down and you could probably cut the tension between the two with a knife, but to the little girl, she felt none of it as she tugged on Sesshoumaru's pant leg. Sesshoumaru broke eye contact to look down at his ward, who smiled toothily at him.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, Onee-san was upset, Rin saw her, but she's fine now," Kagome froze when she heard that and Sesshoumaru raised a brow and looked at Kagome, but didn't say anything, but she knew, just _knew_, that he summed up that it was Inuyasha who had upset her. He looked back down at Rin, who continued in her speech, "She's pretty, isn't she? Rin doesn't understand why her friend would want to upset her and Rin thinks Onee-san is very nice and kind."

Sesshoumaru was quiet for a while. "Rin, you are supposed to be in camp with Jaken," he said instead of answering her and Kagome thought he almost sounded like a father scolding his daughter. He briefly glanced at Kagome, and then said to Rin, "Come, the miko is fine now. It's time to rest."

And just like that, they were gone, Rin waving 'goodbye' with enthusiasm and following Sesshoumaru. Kagome let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Not even five minutes later, Sango, her demon exterminator friend, found her. "Kagome? Are you okay?" she queried, "And why are you on the opposite side of the stream?"

Kagome looked at Sango with a small smile. "I'm fine Sango," she said running a hand through her hair a bit nervously. An action Sango caught, but didn't say anything about. Kagome briefly wondered if she should mention the interaction with Sesshoumaru and Rin, but thought better of it. It was not worth mentioning if nothing hppened. "I just thought I saw something here," she said not mentioning the bracelet, "It must've been my imagination."

Sango smiled sadly at Kagome, knowing that she probably was still upset about what Inuyasha had said to her. "Come on, 'Gome," she said, "Inuyasha has been raving about wanting ramen for a while and you know what happened last time he tried making it himself."

Oh, she remembered alright. It was a disaster last time he tried to make ramen on his own. She gave out an exasperated sigh, feeling a lot better than when she first arrived at the river's edge. "And he says he doesn't need me," she said with a roll of her eyes and grinned lightly at her friend, "Okay, Sango! Lead the way!"

* * *

Sesshoumaru looked at slight distaste as Jaken apologised profusely at his feet for losing sight of Rin, who was at the moment, playing in a small field of flowers. Sick of hearing Jaken's squawking voice, he spoke up, his deep, resonating voice instantly made the tiny demon quiet.

"You are to watch Rin. If this Sesshoumaru finds that you have lost Rin again…" He let the threat hang in the air for Jaken to fill it with his own imagination on what Sesshoumaru would do to him. Jaken turned slightly pale and began speaking reassurances in many forms of sentences before Sesshoumaru kicked him to shut him up. Noticing that he rendered Jaken unconscious, he opted to stay a little bit longer to watch over Rin before he went about his duties.

It was a few days later he caught the scent of his half brother's pack, minutes later after catching the scent did he hear the unmistakable sound of shouting and only seconds later did her hear the familiar sound of something crashing onto the ground. He had no doubt that his half brother had indeed angered the miko… yet again.

It was no surprise that they had come near each other again, but he no doubt knew that they did not know he was nearby. After all, they were after a common enemy. They were bound to come across each other.

* * *

Kagome sighed as she stared at the stars that spread out on the sky like glitter on a velvet silk cloth. Everyone was asleep at this moment, except for her and Inuyasha, Inuyasha keeping watch for any dangers. But as usual he wasn't at the camp site and the tugging of her soul gave her a good idea of where he might be or _whom_ he was meeting.

She smiled bitterly. She wondered if he would ever tell her the truth of his night escapades instead of sneaking out to meet someone only alive with part of her soul.

Kagome leaned back, her back against the tree trunk as she played with the bracelet she had found earlier that week. She had not put it on yet. She looked up just in time to see a shooting star pass by and briefly remembered a time her mother told her to make a wish when she was younger and naïve to the dangers the world presented.

_I wish…_

Kagome looked at the bracelet in her hands, captivating as always every time her eyes fell upon the small trinket.

_I wish…_

Thoughts of Inuyasha ran by her head and where he was at the moment, the pulling of her soul, the sickened feeling she got whenever _she_ was nearby. She didn't hate Kikyou, for Kagome was sure while she had been actually alive and with a soul of her own she was probably a nice person. How else was she a miko? She was only the way she was now because she was brought back to life based on the feelings of pain, anger and betrayal.

Closing her eyes, she made her wish.

_I wish… for a companion who would look at me and only me…_

Opening her eyes she looked at the dying embers of the fire in the middle of the camp. She laughed bitterly in her head at her selfish wish she knew she was not allowed to make if she had the full jewel in her possession. She shook her head and let out a quiet sigh. Quietly, she stood up, making sure not to make noise to wake the others.

Picking up her weapon (She had learned to take her weapon everywhere after the random meet with Sesshoumaru and Rin – not that daily encounters with demons didn't warrant any guard…) and running a hand through her hair she looked at which direction she should take, preferably away from the direction the tugging of her soul pointed to. She did not want to land herself near Kikyou and Inuyasha and in possibly an awkward position.

Walking away from the campsite, she listened to the quiet sounds that the forest at night time provided; the rustling of the leaves, soft sounds of nocturnal animals… She peered at the moon above as she paused by a tree in a small open area. It wasn't a full moon, but almost. It glowed brightly as night time would allow.

She was suddenly struck by the thought of Sesshoumaru, the reminder the moon brought of the crescent shape on his forehead. Skin so pale, although making him look ethereal than sick, long silver hair that would make any woman jealous, the way he moved; precise and graceful. Something out of this world.

_The killing perfection_.

And that was something no one could really deny. He was _perfect_ and was definitely deadly. One wrong move, you certainly wouldn't be able to take another breath.

She shook her head furiously, wondering why on Earth she would be thinking of Inuyasha's brother anyway. As she did that she was reminded of the bracelet as it jingled in her hand. Blinking, she wondered why she carried it with her everywhere, yet she had not put it on. Was something stopping her? Surely, it wouldn't hurt right?

As she made the decision to put it on, she had completely forgotten that items were not to be trusted so easily in the feudal era. Take Inuyasha's beads and the Shikon jewel, for example. You would certainly not expect a curse placed on either of them by simply looking at them. She learned that the hard way as excruciating pain made itself known throughout her body. Pain so unbearable, her mouth opened in a silent scream. She thought she would die.

Gradually, her body started to light up, then suddenly in a panel of strange light that shot at her from the sky covering every part of her body. Words echoed in her head through the hazy pain, words not easily forgotten once heard by the possessor of the bracelet.

_Called upon this cursed state  
Far too late to stop this fate  
Twice a month shows what's true  
Love and warmth can break its cue  
But never once a person must know  
To get out of this cursed show  
'Cause should a person find out this  
Your freedom is yours to miss_

The light died down, and Kagome, unable to understand what had just happened, fell on to the ground with the bracelet as the only thing unscathed. She barely registered the set of footsteps coming her way.

She passed out.


	2. Order one

**_Complexity  
複雑さ_**

**_Order One: The curse

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_**

Kagome was many things; A miko, a time traveller, a school girl, a human. Many things, but there was things that she definitely wasn't. Well, wasn't until the bracelet had been put on. Now, she definitely wasn't a miko, nor was she human anymore, because now she was…

Kagome let out a moan, well she thought she did, but the voice that accompanied that moan certainly didn't sound like her. She heard the pitter-patter of feet running to her side, but couldn't bring herself to open her eyes. The sun's warmth was cast upon her and when she did try to open her eyes, she quickly closed them, the light causing her pain.

She groaned again, her voice strangely more male than female. "Jaken! Onii-san is waking up," a young, familiar voice shouted right by Kagome's ear. Kagome's face scrunched up at the ringing in her ears the voice caused, trying to make sense of what was happening. She couldn't remember anything of what had happened that caused her to lose consciousness.

_Onii-san?_ Kagome thought to herself. Slowly, she opened her eyes, keeping a hand above the face to block the sun from her hurting her eyes at full force. "Where am I?" she asked, voice cracking from lack of use before a look of horror crossed her face as she abruptly sat up (narrowly avoiding hitting someone else in the head) and clutched her throat. She sounded more masculine than she last remembered and her body suddenly didn't feel familiar at all.

"Ah! Onii-san, you shouldn't move around too much," a young voice said and small hands grabbed the hand that was on Kagome's throat and eased it off the neck.

Kagome looked at the little girl and blinked slowly. _Rin? What's Sesshoumaru's ward doing here?_ Kagome thought to herself as the young girl stared at Kagome.

"Rin found Onii-san not far from here! There was this big bright light! And Rin saw Onii-san all hurt on the floor so Rin called for Jaken since Sesshoumaru-sama went away to do something," Rin explained, answering her earlier question.

Slowly, her words caught up to her brain and she almost panicked. _Onii-san?!_ She thought sharply as her head snapped down to her chest. Indeed, she no longer had any female breasts. "Oh my God," Kagome said as she touched herself all over, unable to believe what was happening. No wonder the body didn't feel like hers, and _oh dear Lord_, she even had the complete set of… _manly_ bits _down there._ She didn't even need to check to know it was down there. At least she was wearing clothes, although it really looked unfamiliar and now that she looked closely there was roughly put on bandages around different parts of her body.

"Onii-san, is there something wrong?" Rin asked.

Kagome opened her mouth to say, yes, in fact, there was definitely something wrong, but her eyes caught sight of the bracelet on her arm and a sharp pain made itself known in her head. She winced and all the memories of the night before suddenly flooded her mind.

_Called upon this cursed state, far too late to stop this fate_

_Twice a month shows what's true; love and warmth can break its cue_

"Onii-san?" Rin said worriedly, seeing Kagome wince in pain. Kagome looked at Rin unseeingly, before she looked back at her wrist.

_But never once a person must know, to get out of this cursed show_

"I…" Kagome looked blankly at the bracelet on her arm, her mouth open ready to form words, but the words of the curse played about in her head and she didn't doubt it was a curse; after all, she was currently sitting on the ground opposite of what should be her gender.

'_Cause should a person find out this, your freedom is yours to miss_

She cursed in her head… Well, _she_ was now a _he_, wasn't… he? _Argh, _Kagome thought rather confused, _I prefer calling myself a girl…_ _despite what my body… shows. _Kagome understood the words that suddenly bounced about in her head. She wasn't allowed to tell anyone, lest she wanted to stay a boy. _Love and warmth can break its cue?_ She thought to herself rather bitterly, _how the hell am I supposed to get that? No one knows me in this form and I hardly want a girl to fall for me_. She glanced a look at Rin briefly, _maybe its talking about a familial and platonic kind of love._

She looked at the bracelet around her wrist before anger slowly started to fill her. She couldn't believe it! How could this… this bracelet _do_ this? It was decided; she officially hated jewellery of the feudal era. And with that in mind she began to try to unclasp the bracelet around her wrist, forgetting that there was a girl sitting beside her looking at her in worry. When it became clear that it wouldn't come off that easily, she started to pull at it, the chain digging into her… his skin as _he_ tried to pull it off forcefully, hoping to dear God that if she was strong enough the chain would break.

"_Onii-san!_" The shout that suddenly startled Kagome out of her rage and she looked at Rin, who was close to tears and Kagome looked back to the wrist to notice she was close to cutting her skin.

She looked back at Rin and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry," Kagome said, wincing slightly at her own voice, "Rin, I'm fine, it's just-"

"Rin!" the familiar squawking of the small toad-like demon made itself known as he ran towards them waving his staff, "I told you to stay away from the boy, you stupid girl!"

Before Kagome could think her arms wrapped around Rin's waist and she put Rin behind her protectively as she let out an inhumane growl before her brain caught up with her actions and she blinked in surprise before she quickly shook herself off her stupor. She looked at the toad-like demon and started to speak in a cold voice as if she hadn't just done that. "You should take that back," she said, unknown to her that her eyes were flashing through different hues of blue, "To insult her… Rin is not a stupid girl, which is more than what I can say for you." She mentally shivered at her own tone. Getting used to being male was harder than she thought.

Jaken bristled at that. "How dare you?!" he said pointing at Kagome with his staff, "When Sesshoumaru-sama comes back—" He paused, but Kagome took no note of it thinking he just dropped the sentence to fill with her own imagination.

Kagome scoffed. "Sesshoumaru-sama?" she said incredulously, "What good are you if you can't protect Rin without the mention of his name as a threat? If anything, I would have never put you in charge of such a precious little girl. But it seems that Sesshoumaru put his trust in protecting her with you so why the hell don't you do your job properly," she said crossing her arms and fixing him with a glare, "If you really thought I was dangerous why on Earth did you leave her with me in the first place. Who cares if I was unconscious, you do not leave a girl with an unidentified male," Did she just say that? Oh yes… she just called herself a male. Oh will the wonders never cease! "What would happen if I woke up and was some kind of feral beast, huh?"

Jaken opened his mouth to say something and Kagome waited to see what he would say, his eyes wide and fearful. "Se-Sesshoumaru-sama!" Jaken exclaimed and Kagome's back stiffened at the sound of the demon lord's name.

Did she dare turn around? How could she knowing that she was seated here in his camp, male and a complete stranger in his eyes. And how long was he there for? Did he hear everything that she had said to Jaken? Even the brief insult to his person that he was stupid enough to leave Jaken to Rin's protection?

She slowly turned her head around and there indeed stood Sesshoumaru, intimidating as he was when she first met him. Rin was by his side (when had he taken Rin?) as he glared at both Jaken and Kagome (not that he knew that she was Kagome).

"Jaken," Sesshoumaru spoke, his voice cold that she had to repress a shudder, "Do explain why there is a Hanyou in the campsite."

_Hanyou?_ Kagome thought absentmindedly before she sighed mentally, _great, I'm a male and a Hanyou. I'm not even human anymore. Why, fate, why? Why must you be a pain in the ass?_ She looked at her hands and frowned slightly. She seemed human enough because she definitely didn't have claws. Maybe it was something on the head that gave her away as a hanyou (unbeknownst to her a tail swayed slowly behind her), or maybe it was the _smell_. Well, it was something that gave her away. She just wished she had a mirror or something.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, it wasn't Jaken's fault," she said tugging at his leg to get his attention. "Rin saw this bright light while Jaken went to grab some more wood for the fire. Rin followed the light even though Jaken told Rin to stay in the camp with Ah-Un, but Rin wanted to know what was happening so when the light went gone Rin saw Onii-san covered in blood. Ah-Un had followed Rin so Ah-Un helped Rin bring back Onii-san to camp so Rin can help Onii-san." Indeed, Ah-Un only stood a few feet away from them, Kagome had just realised.

Sesshoumaru was silent for a while and Jaken held his breath. Kagome briefly wondered why she was feeling partially relaxed when Sesshoumaru stood a few feet away from her, but it was probably due to the fact that his anger was aimed at Jaken and not at her.

"… Very well," he said and Jaken let out a breath of relief, but didn't calm down. Sesshoumaru looked over at Kagome and examined the Hanyou. What he saw before him was a feminine looking male with a long black tail swaying behind him slowly. His ears were atop his head in form of cat ears and his sapphire eyes seemed to burn right into him as the Hanyou appeared to study him. He had slightly tanned skin, short cut black hair and wore a grey male yukata. He yawned and a small set of fangs could be seen.

Kagome yawned, still a little tired of having to just wake up a little while ago. She, then, realised she had a slight problem of where she was going to go after this. Would Sesshoumaru let her travel with them until she could break the curse or at least learn how to defend herself properly? And she definitely needed a new name. She certainly couldn't call herself Kagome any longer and well, she wouldn't technically be lying if she changed her name seeing as she was no longer Kagome in this body.

_Hiroki_, a name whispered in the wind and Kagome looked about her a little confused before it dawned on her. _My name is Hiroki?_ She thought to herself in wonder before she decided to address Sesshoumaru, figuring that she had stayed silent long enough.

"Sesshoumaru-sama," she said as she tried to stand gracefully. Tried. With legs she had never used before she almost fell down again, but managed to gain her footing and smiled sheepishly at Sesshoumaru. "Let's try that again…" she mumbled to herself and bowed slightly, "Sesshoumaru-sama, my name is Hiroki and I have a request to ask of you."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at 'Hiroki' waiting for him of continue.

Kagome breathed in deeply, "Would it be alright, Sesshoumaru-sama, if I can follow you in your journey?"

"Why should this Sesshoumaru allow this?" The demon lord asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Kagome bit her lip wondering how she could explain it without giving away she had a curse within her. "There are some reasons of which I cannot say out loud, but," she said quickly as Sesshoumaru looked ready to throw her out of their camp, "I am looking for the owner of this bracelet," she held up her hand and the red welts around her wrist from her earlier angry pulling did not go unnoticed by Sesshoumaru. "To be honest, I don't know where to start, but I thought looking for a witch or a strong miko could help me with this. If I'm with you, I won't be in any immediate danger until I can find a witch or a miko. If… If you think it's too much a problem to add another person to this group I could help out by taking care of Rin for I have experience with human children." Not a lie, she did have to take care of Souta sometimes when she was back to her time, "And I owe her for saving me from dying," Was she dying? Well, it certainly felt like that last night, "And I will defend the girl from any danger…" she looked directly at Sesshoumaru in the eye, "Even if it costs me my life."

Sesshoumaru could not smell a lie on him, but he wasn't deterred. Sesshoumaru studied the male before her to see if he was worth the problem. He usually _hated_ cat demons, but he didn't get the usual feeling he got from them from the hanyou before him. Maybe it was because he was being respectful instead of spiteful.

"Why would you travel with this Sesshoumaru to keep yourself from danger, but throw your life for a mere girl?" Sesshoumaru ignored when Jaken made noise about not letting the hanyou join. He glared at the toad as he abruptly shut up and looked back at Hiroki.

"Why?" Kagome repeated with a small smile, "Why is it you protect her even though you are renowned for your hatred for humans," she asked back, hands clasped behind her back as she looked at him. "This 'mere girl' is still, but a child. She has a full life ahead of her and still has yet to learn the true dangers of the world that goes beyond just demon and fighting. I will not selfishly protect myself when she has yet to grow. She's a beautiful girl, Sesshoumaru-sama," She stared at him in the eyes, "She would be worth it."

Kagome knew that she should _not_ promise her life away so easily to a small child because of her duty to the Shikon jewel, but she knew even if she weren't trying to convince Sesshoumaru to let her travel with them she would still try to protect the lives of the innocent with all she could. Of course, she wanted to live, she wasn't suicidal to the point that she would risk her life for just anyone, but if it meant that lots of lives had to go to waste just so she could live, she'd rather that not happen. She didn't want the blood of innocents in her hands.

Sesshoumaru felt something akin to astonishment, although he didn't show it on his face. He stared at the young male before him as he stared at Sesshoumaru with serious eyes. Hiroki was something else. He could be no older than at most twenty-one considering how slow demons aged and fast humans aged, yet he showed determination and had not lied in his words. Sesshoumaru looked at the bracelet in the hanyou's wrist that pulsed discretely with dark magic and concluded that was why he was looking for a witch or miko and something clicked together in his mind as he realised that the boy before him was under a curse, which was why he was unable to say anything.

That was confirmed when the boy jumped and looked behind himself as his tail brushed against his hand. Hiroki blinked and mumbled to himself 'Oh, I have a tail…'

"Very well," Sesshoumaru said after a long time catching Hiroki's attention, ignoring Jaken's sound of indignation and Rin gave Hiroki a toothy grin at Sesshoumaru's consent. "You may travel under the conditions that you take care and protect Rin, in return you may travel with this Sesshoumaru and I will see that no harm comes to your person. If, however, I see that any harm comes to my ward, I will personally show you just why I am feared."

To his surprise, Hiroki only smiled gratefully and bowed despite the threat. "Thank Sesshoumaru-sama. I will see that the conditions are met," she said, "I will care for Rin with the best of my abilities."

"Hn." With nothing more to say, Sesshoumaru turned away.

Rin squealed happily, ran and grabbed Hiroki's hand and he smiled down at the small girl. Hand in hand, one more excited than the other, they both followed the demon lord as they moved to make progress in their travels.

* * *

In a different clearing, not too far away from where Sesshoumaru's group was, a loud exclamation was heard. Sango jumped awake, on guard instantly with her training as a demon slayer, although still groggy from sleep. Miroku slowly came to his senses as he heard the loud curses of an irate hanyou. Kirara hissed at the hanyou, not happy to be woken and Shippou yawned tiredly, rubbing his eyes and was on quick alert as soon as he realised someone was missing from the picture in front of him.

It was sunrise, the time Inuyasha _usually_ woke them up demanding Kagome make him Ramen, only to make something else and tell him with her hands on her hips that they couldn't eat Ramen for breakfast all the time. _This _time, though, Inuyasha had woken them up with a series of curses with Kagome nowhere in sight.

"Inuyasha," Sango said sternly as sleep allowed, "What is wrong? Where is Kagome?"

"That is what's wrong! Where the hell is she?" the hanyou said heatedly.

Miroku sighed and bent down to pick up the small fox that was almost in tears. "Inuyasha, were you not keeping watch?"

Sango's eyes widened as she realised what might have happened. "You were with _her_ again, weren't you?" Sango hissed at the hanyou.

Sensing a fight about to ensue, Miroku intervened. "Can you still catch a whiff of her scent?" he asked, glad that there wasn't any rain last night.

"It's all you fault Inuyasha!" Shippou had wailed, "If you had just called her your friend, she would still be here!" Miroku patted Shippou's head, making shushing noises as he tried to calm the kit down. He didn't blame the kid for being a little hysterical; after all, it was someone he considered his mother missing.

"Shut it, brat!" Inuyasha said more harshly than intended as Shippou hit a sore spot. Since what Shippou had said might not actually be a lie. It's just that they had these fights all the time Inuyasha had never really thought about how his words would really and truly hurt Kagome. He just wanted to keep her at a distance.

Inuyasha then went to follow Kagome's scent and then stopped short in smelling blood. Now more panicked than before, Inuyasha sped up his companions right behind him. In a small clearing, the place looked a little charred, but that wasn't what sent Inuyasha in full panic mode as he caught the sight of Kagome's bow and quiver of arrows covered in blood, but no body in sight.

Sango came behind Inuyasha and covered her mouth as she saw what Inuyasha saw and fear settled in her. Miroku came next, muttering an 'Oh dear' with Shippou in his arms.

"I smell Sesshoumaru's brat," Inuyasha said coldly.

"Inuyasha, you couldn't be possibly be saying…"

"I know what I smell!" Inuyasha interrupted Sango with a growl, "As soon as Sesshoumaru's dragon and the brat's scent appears, Kagome's scent disappears. I swear, if they did anything to Kagome I'll kill them!"

Miroku opened his mouth to speak, to say it was nonsense that Sesshoumaru would hurt a human in presence of his ward, or that his ward had anything to do with the disappearance, but before he could even utter a word, Inuyasha had already sprinted away, following the scent that would lead them to Sesshoumaru's group. Miroku turned to Sango and they quickly nodded to each other, and ran after the angry hanyou.

* * *

"_Hiroki… Hiroki…" Eerie voices surrounded Kagome. It was dark and she could feel herself lying down on some kind of mat. She felt somewhat detached to the happenings around her, "Hiroki," the voice said clearer now, and Kagome could identify it as a female, "Hiroki, my love, wake up."_

_And as if she were opening her eyes, a scene blurred into picture before her until it became clear. There, before her was a very beautiful female straddling Kagome. Her smile was playful and Kagome could tell she wasn't human, if the fox ears above her head gave any indication. She wore a simple blue yukata and her green eyes sparkled mischievously as she bent down and her long black hair curtained both of them as she gave him a small peck on his nose._

"_Hiroki, come on," she said with a giggle to her voice, "Your son wants to play with him. Sora is asleep at the moment, but your son is wide awake."_

_Kagome felt a smile pull at her face and figured she was reliving the memories of the body she was in. The sun streamed through the window and onto the woman on top of her, giving her an angelic look and with actions not her own, Kagome pulled the woman down and smelled her deeply as if committing her smell to memory… only Kagome could not smell her._

_The demon moved herself up so that her body weight wasn't fully on Kagome, and she smiled and she lifted a hand and moved Kagome's fringe out of the way of her face. On her wrist was a bracelet, so beautifully designed and Kagome recognised it instantly for it was the exact same one she wore now. _

"_Where is he now?"_

_The fox demon smiled. "He's—"_

_The scene abruptly changed. It was dark and this time, where she could not smell anything before, the smell of blood now invaded her senses. Fear gripped at her heart and she was terrified to find tears slightly blocking her vision of what was before her._

_She felt dirty. She felt remorse and guilt. She looked down at her hands and saw blood. What was going on? Blood was everywhere; on her clothes, her skin… on the floor. As her vision cleared for a brief moment as she blinked and there were two bodies lay motionless before her, one considerably smaller than the other._

_**I hate you!**__ Words echoed in her mind and Kagome took a shaky step forward._

_And that was when she couldn't take it anymore as Kagome fell to her knees in tears. She crawled forward, wanting to confirm, at the same time scared to know the truth. Her bloodied hands shakily reached out to touch the body, ready to turn it around before—_

"WHERE THE HELL IS KAGOME?" Kagome was jerked awake from her nap as the familiar voice of her hanyou friend rushed into the clearing. Kagome quickly looked at Sesshoumaru to find him looking at her before he turned his attention to Inuyasha. Kagome realised then that in the short duration of her nap, she had cried. She quickly wiped her tears, embarrassed to be caught in such a state by Sesshoumaru. She couldn't even remember what she dreamt. It was hazy at best, but she could still remember the feeling of terror the dream had invoked.

"Sesshoumaru-sama would never kidnap your human wench!" Jaken defended his Lord angrily, making Kagome look at the scene before as it unfolded before her. Miroku, Sango and Shippou broke into the clearing behind Inuyasha. Shortly followed by Kirara who had Kagome's yellow back in her mouth. They stood before Sesshoumaru, who looked at them calmly, Jaken by his leg.

Kagome stood up quietly, not wanting to attract attention to herself and grabbed the hand of Sesshoumaru's ward who was about to run to Sesshoumaru. She put a finger to her lips, indicating to be quiet to Rin and lifted her up so she couldn't run anywhere and looked back at the scene. She didn't want Rin to run into a scene where a fight was most likely going to ensue and get the little girl injured.

"I know what I smell!" Inuyasha said and looked angrily at Sesshoumaru, "Your brat's scent is in the clearing where Kagome had disappeared in! Now, where is she?!"

"Your inferior senses fail you, half breed," Sesshoumaru said, his eyes flashing dangerously, "There is no scent of the miko, nor is she seen."

"We'll see about that!" Inuyasha said, looking around as if he would find his tied up miko friend with Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha's eyes landed on Kagome and Kagome's senses went into overdrive as she held Rin more protectively in case Inuyasha were to attack them. After all, Kagome didn't look like their friend anymore. She was in their enemy camp, male, and a hanyou. There was no way they would recognise her.

"Hiroki-nii," Rin said quietly, a little scared as Inuyasha's raged look landed on them. Kagome hissed slightly at Inuyasha.

"Give me the brat! I smelled her scent in the clearing!" And everything happened all at once. Inuyasha charged at them, Kagome jumped away from the spot with more force than needed (she still did not know the limits to her own strength) and landed roughly by a tree, Kagome's back hitting the trunk as she stumbled, wincing as she hit her back hard and keeping Rin safe from the impact, and Sesshoumaru moved faster than the eye could see in front of Inuyasha with his sword out and ready, cutting Inuyasha's run short.

"Inuyasha!" Sango said horrified, wishing she had the ability to 'sit' him.

Miroku, keeping an eye on Sesshoumaru (who was glaring at them), put a hand on Inuyasha's tense shoulder. "Inuyasha, calm down and think logically," he said, trying to calm the situation and Kagome's heart ached, wishing she could tell them of the curse and who she was. She would miss confiding in Sango, hearing Miroku's wisdom, Shippou's antics, Kirara's silent comfort when she was upset and Inuyasha's brashness.

"There were plenty of times Sesshoumaru could have kidnapped Kagome," Sango said and Sesshoumaru slightly grimaced at the mention that he would go so low as steal Inuyasha's wench, "But he hasn't done so, so why would he do so now?"

Inuyasha growled, acknowledging the words as he stared at Sesshoumaru in barely contained anger.

"The slayer is right," Sesshoumaru said, "This Sesshoumaru would gain nothing by taking your wench," Kagome bristled slightly wishing that she could say something about what he was calling her. "Next time, you will not blame this Sesshoumaru for your mistake." With that he looked at Ah-Un and then at Kagome and Rin, "Come, we leave."

Kagome quickly stood from her position from the tree and slightly winced from the slight pain. _Oh, that's definitely going to bruise,_ she thought to herself as she put Rin down and took her hand. Kagome took one last glance at her friends, who looked at her in curiosity, before she followed Sesshoumaru, Jaken and Ah-Un.

* * *

**_Japanese words:_**

**_{name}-nii : Slang way of say older brother._**

**_Onii-san : Older brother, in Japan kids call older boys they don't know the names of as 'Onii-san' or 'Sempai' in the case of school which would mean Upper classmen._**

**_{name}-sama : A way to address someone who is higher up in the heirarchy or someone you truly respect to a high degree._**

**_A/N: Well, I hope that didn't get too confusing. Kagome is still referred to a girl because she thinks of herself as a female than a male... despite the... obvious changes. Sometimes she will be referred to Hiroki or a 'he' since everyone else views her as a guy. If there is something you don't understand or missed, feel free to ask or tell me  
_**

**_Thanks to those who review by the way. Love you all._**

**_~SxT  
_**


	3. Order two

_**Complexity || **__**複雑さ **__**Order Two: Cats**_

It had been two weeks since Kagome's disappearance and Inuyasha was getting more aggravating by the day. His temper was harder to tame since Kagome was not there to 'sit' him, he made them travel to the point of exhaustion (which is quite dangerous, by the way, considering the demons that always attacked them) and disappears every night without telling Sango or Miroku where the half demon would run off to. They had to be on constant guard since Kagome had left her shards in her bag. Demon upon demon who sensed the shards and without Kagome to at least cover the jewel shards from the weaker demons' senses, they were left to fight off any that came anywhere near them.

"I wonder where Kagome is," Sango said sullenly on a quiet night as she petted Kirara. The small cat demon mewled silently.

"I'm sure she's alright," Miroku said, looking over to Sango from his spot by the tree. "Knowing Kagome she's either yelling at her captor like she does Inuyasha, or probably found a way to escape whoever's captured her and trying to find a way back us."

Not wanting to be negative Sango just nodded, but even that small action seemed slightly hesitant.

Inuyasha was nowhere in sight, off somewhere in the cover of trees sulking or angry that he still could not catch even remotely a small clue of where Kagome might be. And the only being (besides the hordes of demons after the jewel shards) that would even think of kidnapping Kagome was Naraku, but even two weeks was quiet for one like him if Naraku stole her for the purpose to get to them.

"Hey Miroku," Sango said while in thought and the monk looked over at Sango, "Do you remember the night Kagome went missing? I feel a little silly bringing this up now, but why do you think a hanyou is travelling with Sesshoumaru. It seems... so unlike him."

Miroku gave a small sigh. He had asked himself that question for a while now. "It doesn't make sense," he said voicing the thoughts that had been jumping around his head, "It is well known that he doesn't like hanyous or humans, yet... In his little travelling group he has one of both. And especially, if my guess is correct, if the hanyou is half cat, it makes less sense since they've never been on good terms."

Miroku let out a small sigh and then looked at Sango with a small frown. "I am thinking that we may have misinterpreted our demon lord ally. Everyone has. Moreover that he doesn't hate humans or hanyous, but in actuality he will only protect those he deems worthy of his protection," he started pacing a little, "It's his cold demeanour that really does the trick. Maybe his hate for humans stemmed from the fact his father had mated one long ago, disgracing the family line, and the fact that, at the same time his half brother was born of such a coupling, his father was killed."

"So... you're saying that he doesn't hate humans and hanyous?" Shippou chimed in, who was seated by the missing miko's bag near the small camp fire.

"I wouldn't say that it would go as far as hate, more like he just dislikes us and probably our habits and customs as he is a pure blood demon," Miroku replied.

Sango nodded. "I see..." Everyone was quiet for a little bit. "But as you said," Sango said breaking the silence, "This is all your assumption. For all we know he could in fact still hate all humans and hanyous dearly and that neko hanyou and young Rin be small exceptions."

"Ah, and with that we're back at square one dear Sango," Miroku said with a slight smile as he sat down on a log by the camp fire as Shippou scrambled on his lap. "But it is curious. Though, it is Sesshoumaru's reason and not our own. I doubt we'd get any answers any time soon."

"True."

-C-

Two weeks. Two weeks since the hanyou had joined the group and it seemed his peaceful days were over. At first it was quiet. Hiroki seemed hesitant to do anything, as if to fear any kind of movement from him would result his death. Rin would the main person chattering and playing around. The hanyou would just sit there with a smile, only talking back when asking questions. He was often seen staring at the sky daydreaming or absentmindedly playing with his bracelet.

But now... _Now _he had gotten used to his presence. He talked back, even initiated conversations with Rin and even taught the girl games, often dragging Jaken into it and if he didn't know any better, he'd assume the hanyou was a girl with the way he acted. There were often times when they would try to include him, but that was something a little glare fixed easily, but it seemed to slowly lose its effect on the hanyou. Sesshoumaru, however, liked to think not.

The boy got flustered easily and there were just small mannerisms that you would never see a guy doing. Like absently twirling his hair with a finger as he thought. Every time he came from the bath his face would be beat red. The same would happen each time he coming back from urinating running to a far tree to do so, even though the ones in closer distance would be fine to hide whatever he was doing.

And as he realised when he ordered Hiroki to hunt for food for the both Rin and he, he was adverse to the ways of hunting and seemed to not know how to fight bare handed at all. The way he moved alerted the prey at once of his position, his movements were far from one trained to hunt; awkward and stiff, clumsy and noisy. Sesshoumaru briefly wondered how on Earth he would protect Rin if he could not even catch a harmless animal for their meal. He wondered if this was all worth the trouble.

"Hanyou," Sesshoumaru spoke his title instead of his name, "How is it that you lack any common sense in the art of hunting?"

Hiroki's right eye twitched as he crossed his arms, mumbling to himself something incoherent under his breath before he looked Sesshoumaru in the eye. "Look, Sesshoumaru," Ah, the boy even dropped –sama off his name and he wondered if he was getting softer because he had not taught the arrogant boy a 'lesson', "I'm sorry that I did not grow up being trained, okay? I just grew up in a nice and happy household and there wasn't a need for me to hunt. My mother and grandfather found there wasn't a need for me to learn how to hunt."

Sesshoumaru noticed something missing in Hiroki's statement as he stared at Hiroki's annoyed face, which, in turn, wasn't looking directly at Sesshoumaru. "And what of your father, Hanyou?"

"Oh, for God's sake, I have a name, use it! It's Hi-Ro-Ki, Hiroki. Get it right, it's not Hanyou," There seemed to be something awfully familiar about that scene, but Sesshoumaru could not put his finger on it, "I never knew my father," he said, his tone lowered a bit, "He died when I was too young to even remember his face."

The Demon Lord nodded, deciding to drop the subject on his father, since it seemed like a sensitive topic. He found out what he needed anyway.

-C-

Two weeks it was. Two weeks since she was cursed into a male body. Every night she _seemed_ like she was in a nightmare, only… every time she woke up in tears and short of breath she could not seem to gather what her dreams once were. She remembered green eyes that sparkled with joy among the hazy images that she dreamt of every night and with that small information she could not gather why she would wake up in fright most of the time.

She wiped the cold sweat off her forehead with the back of her wrist having to just wake up from another nightmare she did not seem to remember. It came to her slowly, though. At first she could remember nothing, but as nights went by, slowly blurred images came to shape, but so far besides the green eyes, the current bracelet around her wrist was the only image she clearly remembered.

She got up quietly, careful not to wake Jaken, the two-headed dragon and Rin. Sesshoumaru was nowhere to be seen at this point and she briefly wondered where he went _again_. It wasn't the first time he had left on his own, leaving Rin with only Kagome (in the form of Hiroki of course, he had still yet to find out about the curse), Jaken and Ah-Un as protection.

She flexed her claws still trying to get used to it as he tail wrapped itself around her waist. There were so many instances she grew flustered with her own body (well, it actually wasn't hers, now was it? She wasn't born a male to begin with). One of those instances was when she needed to empty her bladder and had to touch _down there._ She would _curse_ the creator of this curse mainly because of this: Her _embarrassment_. Out of all the curses someone could make, they had to create a gender bending curse?

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't be a curse otherwise," Kagome mumbled to herself as she walked to the nearby stream to wash her face in.

When she had first seen her reflection in the water, she had almost screamed, but went along with a gasp. She knew her body had gone male on her, but to see what she actually looked like was so much different. She didn't recognise herself. Sure, she had the same coloured eyes and hair, but her skin was tanner. She had cat-like ears atop of her head! And the small fangs! She remembered running her tongue over those and almost bit her tongue in surprise. She also noticed with bitter surprise that she was skinnier in this form and realised that she still looked a bit feminine, like one of those pretty boys you would see in dramas. She looked weak, but she was strong in strength. A tree half broken could attest to that. By now though, she had grown used to it. She didn't particularly know if that was a good thing.

By the time she had arrived back to camp, Rin was just waking up and Sesshoumaru was leaning by a nearby tree. Jaken was nowhere in sight and Ah-Un was still resting.

"What happened to the toad?" Kagome asked as she stepped into the camp and walked towards the still sleepy Rin.

"That is not your concern Hanyou-"

"Hiroki," Kagome automatically corrected, which, of course, Sesshoumaru ignored.

"However, you are to catch breakfast for yourself and Rin." He continued as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"Catch?" Kagome inquired as Rin yawned, rubbing her eyes, sleep fading away each second. Kagome turned to the little girl. "You need to wash your face, Hun. I'll take you to the stream in just a minute." She looked back at Sesshoumaru as he answered he short question.

"Hunt, Hanyou, or were you not taught how?" Sesshoumaru said with a raised brow. "Jaken is not here due to a small task I have assigned to him. He cannot gather your food this morning. You, Hanyou, should be able to at least hunt if you claim that you can care for Rin."

Kagome stared at Sesshoumaru for a minute. Hunt? She had never hunted in her life. Inuyasha was the hunter of their group when they wanted meat. She was always just the cook. And say that she did hunt; she never liked gutting animals either. That was Inuyasha as well. She just couldn't handle it if she had to take out the insides of the animal. She'd probably turn vegetarian. She looked at Sesshoumaru under her fringe. But she was a hanyou now, wasn't she? Faster, stronger and certainly more agile… right? How hard could hunting be? And maybe she could trick Sesshoumaru into gutting whatever she caught.

"Okay, then," Kagome said, nodding more to herself than Sesshoumaru, "Can you take Rin to the stream to wash her face? I will be back soon."

…

So hunting was definitely harder than it looked. Every time she thought she would come close to catching something she either breathed too loud, stepped on a twig, trip over her two feet and when she decided to give up stealth and give chase, and since her gaze was focused on what she was aiming to catch she'd run right into a bush, tree or rock.

And this was how Sesshoumaru found her. Rubbing her head from the pain of running right into a tree and scratches and bruises all over her body. Noticing his presence Kagome crossed her arms and looked away, her cheeks burning in embarrassment.

"You have been gone for over two hours," Sesshoumaru stated and Kagome felt her cheeks darken, "It seems that you are inept to the art of hunting."

"Sh-shut up," Kagome said, trying not to let her embarrassment show, but she knew it was a futile attempt. _Sesshoumaru must think that I'm stupid_, Kagome thought to herself rather bitterly, _not able to do something as _simple_ as hunting._ "I'm not concentrating, is all."

"This Sesshoumaru has been watching you for the last twenty minutes, Hanyou," Sesshoumaru said and the fading colour of red on her cheeks returned in full force as Kagome refused to comment. What else could she say? "Hanyou," Sesshoumaru said and Kagome looked at him with something akin to annoyance, "How is it that you lack common sense in the art of hunting?"

Kagome felt annoyance turn to anger. Kami-sama! Hunting was not easy! And the way he seemed to speak to her, he spoke as if she was stupid or something. She forced herself to calm down. "Breathe Kagome, breathe," she muttered lowly under her breath and then looked at Sesshoumaru in the eye. "Look, Sesshoumaru. I'm sorry that I did not grow up being trained, okay? I grew up in a nice and happy household and there wasn't a need for me to hunt. My mother and grandfather found there wasn't a need for me to learn how to hunt."

Sesshoumaru was quiet for a little while and Kagome wondered what he would say to that. Would he kick her out of his little group now that she could not do hunting very well? She remembered his earlier words: _You, Hanyou, should be able to at least hunt if you claim that you can care for Rin._ Now that she showed her inability to even hunt, what use would she be?

"And what of your father, Hanyou?" he said, finally lifting the silence.

Kagome felt annoyance with his constant use of 'Hanyou'. "Oh for God's sake, I have a name, use it! It's Hi-Ro-Ki, Hiroki," it was amazing that she had gotten used to saying her fake name. There were so many times before this where she would accidentally almost let her real name slip, "Get it right, it's not Hanyou!" she seethed before the realised the actual question he posed. Kagome felt herself calm as a heavy feeling settled over her heart. "I never knew my father," Kagome answered, her voice lower than before, "He died when I was too young to even remember his face." She saw photos of course. Her mum had shown her a photo album and sometimes she would grab it and look herself. He couldn't remember his voice, or the expressions he made when she was younger, but she did remember the warmth he gave when he was still alive. She wished he was still alive.

Expecting more questions from the demon lord, she was surprised when he nodded as if that was all he needed and turn around to walk back to camp.

"Hey, wait, is that it?" she said, quickly getting over her shock she ran to catch up to him and grabbed his sleeve, "No 'you're incompetent, you're kicked out of the group' or about my father? Or anything like that?" Kagome asked.

Sesshoumaru looked back at her and then at the hand that grabbed his sleeve. Kagome flushed red and quickly let go knowing how much he hated contact. Rin was the only exception. "I have already sworn you under my protection if you were to protect Rin. Although your skill in hunting is questionable you only need to practice to get better if you want to stay. If you really wish to leave, this Sesshoumaru will not stop you." He paused for a second, "And as for your father…" Kagome held her breath as he stared at her with his piercing golden eyes, "There seems to be no point of asking questions of someone you don't remember."

Kagome blinked as he turned away and then a smile grew. In his own round about way he had just told her that he didn't mind having her in the group. "Don't worry," she said happily as she jogged up to him, "I'll try my best in practice."

Sesshoumaru glanced at her with some distaste at her optimism and her quick change of moods. "You will not try, Hanyou," he said as he faced forward again, "You _will_ do your best."

Kagome looked at him in slight surprise before she beamed him a smile he could not see since his back was facing her. She didn't even bother correcting her name. "Of course!"

-C-

"Onii-san?" Rin said as she watched Kagome from the bottom of the tree. There was the sound of scuffling coming from the branches above Rin. Rin scrunched up her face as she tried to see what Kagome was up to, "Onii-san? What are you doing?"

There was another sound of a branch creaking as Kagome instantly came swinging upside down, a bunch of fruit falling as she did that. "Oh damn, I dropped them," she said still upside down. She flipped onto her feet and dusted herself and then looked at the young girl with a grin. "Done with the flowers Rin? I just saw fruit on this lovely tree here," she said thumping the trees trunk and bent down to pick two apples and threw one at Rin, who caught it clumsily. "And thought instead of hunting I should get us some fruit instead. Is Sesshoumaru back from whatever he's doing?"

Rin shook her head, but bit into the juicy fruit happily. "Sesshoumaru-sama hasn't come back yet. Rin is wondering why Hiroki Onii-san wasn't at breakfast."

Kagome flushed a little. "Ah heh… you noticed, huh?" she said happily, albeit a little nervously, "Well, you could say I got carried away with chasing animals that I forgot the time." Well, it wasn't a lie. She was chasing animals and she did happen to forget the time each time she bumped into tree or rock. Time flies so fast when you're chasing animals.

Rin peaked in interest. "Was it fun, Onii-san?"

Kagome laughed, though it sounded suspiciously nervous. "Yes, it's a fun activity," she said, moving to sit beside the girl as she took another bite out of the apple as she thought. Rin took a bite out of hers as well as she waited for Kagome to continue. "It gives you time to work on your speed and skills. And keeps the body nice and strong, for it can be a form of exercise."

"So, you like hunting?"

Kagome smiled. "It's… interesting. It is more of a necessity than whether it is something I like or dislike doing."

Rin opened her mouth to speak again, when a loud roar was heard, birds immediately flying out of the trees and then all was quiet. Instantly, Kagome felt a shiver go down her spine as a foreboding feeling resonated in her body. She immediately stood up, dropping her apple as she protectively pushed Rin behind her as her eyes darted about her, trusting her senses to guide her. She could feel it though. Something was coming. She faintly noted that Ah-Un stood to attention as well.

It was quiet. Too quiet for her liking and apprehension continued to grow in her as each second passed by. She didn't like it. Suddenly sensing something behind her, she turned, grabbed Rin and jumped back. Nothing came out, but another roar, but more pain-filled than the last. She could feel Rin shaking in her arms and could smell the young girl's fear. Where was Sesshoumaru when you needed him?

Minutes passed before a figure emerged from the bushes in form of a human-formed demon. The demon smiled maniacally as he licked the blood from his claws of his recent kill. At least Kagome knew why the last roar sounded so painful. His red tinted green eyes watched Kagome, not bothering to look at the hissing two-headed dragon and his blood speckled light blue hair swayed in the light breeze. His skin was a sickly pale against his red-stained yellow hakama. Demon-like markings adorned his skin and a blue tail swayed behind him and Kagome could smell besides the blood that clung to him of various prey was the smell of cats.

He was a cat demon.

Kagome pushed the child behind her protectively as she glared at the intruder. "Who are you?" she asked her voice cold and showing no emotion. She could sense the danger he presented.

The demon chuckled, and it brought shivers down her spine. "A Halfling," the demon hissed as he started to circle and Kagome followed the action making sure to keep the distance the same and Rin behind her. She sent a look at the dragon to not interfere not sure if Ah-Un would understand. But Kagome needed the dragon unharmed to get Rin out of here while she held off the demon should they end up battling, which at the moment, seemed inevitable.

"You're a Halfling," the demon repeated with a smirk.

Kagome growled, but didn't comment on the statement. "Who are you?" she repeated, more forcefully.

"I only wan' de human," he said, looking at Rin with a manic look before looking at Kagome, "I wan' a small morsel ta feed on. She smells delicious an' I will spare your life Halfling, an' even gran' you a place in our clan. I'm sure a Halfling like you would appreciate it."

Kagome narrowed her eyes and stopped right in front of Ah-Un, causing the demon to stop as well. From his words Kagome guessed that Hanyous weren't accepted even in the cat demon society. Not like she didn't already know that. Too bad she wasn't actually born a Hanyou and starved for attention. "Like hell I will let you touch her!" she said aggressively and instantly the demon's features turned more deadly.

"Very well, Halfling," he said his manic expression gone as he got into position and his claws grew considerably, "Your last chance." Kagome had a feeling that his manic look from before was an act. He looked quite deadly now, rather than crazy and Kagome had to admit, she did feel a little bit of fear.

But she held a greater fear of Sesshoumaru should she bring harm to Rin. She bent down to position, claws ready. She briefly wished she had her bow. At least it was a weapon she could use. She smirked, hiding the fear that she might not live, but at least she could get Rin out of here.

"I'd rather die."

As soon as those words left her mouth, they both raced forward, claws swiping. Kagome narrowly escaped a harsh blow to her side. She heard a yelp as Rin looked at them in fear, her eyes wide and watery. The demon took this momentary distraction and swiped at her chest, causing Kagome to stumble back clutching her chest.

She glared at the smirking demon. "Rin!" she yelled, not taking her eyes off the demon, "Get on Ah-Un and find Sesshoumaru!"

"Oh no, you don't!" The demon said, instantly charging at Sesshoumaru's ward, but Kagome quickly intercepted him, forcing him to change direction.

Rin was close to tears by now. "B-but Onii-sa-"

"_**Do it now!**_" Kagome shouted harshly as she endured another hit to grab hold to the angry cat, but Rin stood frozen in fear not sure what to do. She didn't want to leave Kagome. And Kagome had not meant to sound so harsh, but the situation had caused her to. Rin was in danger and it was her ass should Sesshoumaru find her hurt. No matter about Kagome. After all, she was only in his care for two weeks.

Kagome kicked the cat demon away, sweat and blood already covering her body, not used to fighting in hand to hand. Hell, even the demon could tell she was inexperienced. Kagome could already see that she was losing this battle. She was far too inexperienced in the art of fighting. She only knew how to use her bow and arrow and even that was useless at such a close range.

Using her chance when she managed to kick him away into a tree trunk, Kagome raced to the frozen child and lifted her and dropped her unceremoniously with Ah-Un, Kagome's blood smearing in the front of her orange and white kimono. She was losing quite enough blood with the wounds she had received from his claws. At least it wasn't poisonous like Sesshoumaru's.

At that point she felt someone tackle her from behind, causing both bodies to roll in the ground as she struggled to fight back.

"Ah-Un, find Sesshoumaru!" she shouted, breathing heavily as she wrestled with the cat demon's claws, that came close in slicing her throat. The next few words she said in a more quiet tone, but Ah-Un still heard. "Keep Rin safe."

The dragon seemed to understand, ignoring Rin's cries for Hiroki and took to the air. The last thing Rin saw was Kagome getting clawed on her right arm and kicked on her already injured chest, its momentum causing Kagome to crash into the tree behind her. Rin cried out, scared that she wouldn't see Hiroki ever again. Tears fell as they flew further and further from the fighting scene.

Kagome smirked, blood dripping from her wounds and the demon looked at her incredulously. She was in no condition to smirk. No matter if the human got away, surely the hanyou could see that she was about to die. "You won't get her now," Kagome breathed out and then the demon understood that the hanyou cared nothing for his own life, but the life of the child's. He wondered what was so special about that young girl.

And that was when he caught sight of the bracelet on her left wrist. Right in front of him as bright as the sun that was in the sky as her left hand held her injured right arm (never mind that she was injured on both arms. The right was obviously more injured than the left). Noticing his momentary distraction, Kagome used this chance to attack and the cat demon hissed in pain as Kagome managed to claw the cat on his left arm. Deeply.

He hissed as he stumbled back, but it seemed that Kagome had reached her limit, her blood loss being too much for her as she blacked out and lost consciousness. The cat demon stood there for a moment, holding his injured arm and staring at the unconscious boy before he moved down and picked up the left wrist with the bracelet.

He frowned. "_Impossible._"

-C-

Sesshoumaru steely turned away from the dead carcass of the spy from his ranks of his castle in disgust and was disgusted with himself that he had managed to let in a spy without realising it. Though in his defence, he had not been back in the castle for about six months chasing some hair brained crazy baboon hanyou who thought to cause distress in his lands.

He had been preparing for his return this time, making sure that there were two rooms ready for his ward and the stray hanyou since it was about time he had gotten back to the castle before continuing his wayward journey in finding and killing Naraku. After all, he could not neglect his duties to this land. Evil Hanyou or not. And Hiroki was inept in the skills he may possess as a hanyou. It was another reason to return. He needed to train if he was going to put Rin in his care all the time.

He had sent Jaken to the place he was originally going to before he made the decision to return to the castle. The place he went to every time he separated himself from the group each time they rested, for it was important that he kept up with these meets should he want to find that blasted Hanyou. He had left Rin with Hiroki knowing that the child was safer with Hiroki than she was with Jaken, should he be honest with himself.

He looked up to the sky as he caught the scent of his ward and the two-headed dragon with a frown. And the scent of the blood of the neko hanyou. He could tell that something was wrong straight away. He registered that he could smell Rin's tears inter-mixing the scent of blood. As soon as the dragon touched the ground, Rin ran towards Sesshoumaru with a cry, eyes red and puffy. Sesshoumaru recognised that she had been crying for quite a while and the dried blood in the front of her kimono, otherwise the child was unharmed.

"Rin," he said pulling her back and kneeling down to her level, "What is wrong?"

Rin sniffled, attempting to calm her breath enough to speak. "O-Onii-san… demon c-came and O-Onii-s-san s-saved R-Rin," she said in between her sniffles, "H-he's hurt b-badly," Rin said looking at Sesshoumaru with watery eyes and something twisted in his gut, "H-he's still with th-the dem-demon. He's going to l-live, isn't he?"

Sesshoumaru's lips formed a firm line, unable to promise the child anything. He couldn't be sure about if the hanyou lived even now. Immediately he ordered a maid to bring Rin to her rooms and get her changed. Whoever did this was going to pay. He had after all promised to keep the hanyou safe and now he was possibly dead.

-C-

_**I hate you!**__ The words echoed and Kagome had no idea what was going on. __**I hate you! I HATE you!**__ There was intense heat, the scent of blood high in the air. In the distance there were cries for help. But that wasn't what had her attention. In front of her, two bodies in front of her, unmoving. She was on her knees, her legs collapsing underneath her._

"_Wh-what have I done?" she said, her bloodied hands shakily reaching towards her head as she looked down and away from the result of her sin and clawed at her face with blunt fingers, "What have I done?"_

_Tears blurred her vision. Panic started to grow inside of her and the day's earlier dinner rose up to her throat. __**I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.**__ It repeated in her head like a mantra. "Sh-shut up," she began to say, "Shut up! Shut up! __**Shut up!**__"_

-C-

Kagome's head throbbed. That was the first thing she had felt upon regaining consciousness. The next was the burning sensation throughout her body and at the same time she shivered feeling cold, her breath coming out in pants, a few times in light coughs. It was hard to breathe and it was far too painful to move. She couldn't open her eyes, feeling that it caused too much effort. She groaned in pain.

She felt a hand slide behind her neck, pushing her up slightly and something press against her lips. "Drink this," a faintly familiar voice said softly. She frowned when she could not put sound to picture. "Open your mouth and drink. It'll help."

Feeling the liquid slide down her throat fast, she ended up spluttering and coughing rapidly and whoever was helping her quickly moved to pat her back. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw it was dark and not too far away a fire burned. She recognised that she was in a small cave. Though the fire provided heat, the flickering of the flames gave her a head ache. She groaned and closed her eyes again. She had not looked at her saviour behind her, feeling too much pain and far too sick to bother with that at the moment.

"Where am I?" she managed to mumble lowly.

She heard a shuffle behind her as she was lowered slowly back onto the ground. "In a cave not too far from the clearing of where we fought," she heard the guy answer.

Her face scrunched up. Something was not right with the words. _We?_ She questioned silently before something in her clicked. She opened her eyes and shot up, coughing as she did so, and stumbling back to the ground. Now she recognised his voice and no wonder it sounded so familiar. It was the cat demon she had fought.

* * *

_AN: Forgive me for all the mistakes. I'm really tired at the moment because I was at the beach today and I know I could take the time to read over it -again- (reading over it in the head really is pointless sometimes when you fill in the blanks yourself) and update this tomorrow or something, but decided to give everyone a treat._

_Anyways, tell me what you think guys. Yes review and give any ideas if you have any lol. I'm not out of ideas yet... but just in case. I like to write my chapters ahead in time :D_

_~StrawberryXThief_


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